🇪🇸
Madrid
Spain
Spain's capital — museums, parks and endless nights.
🇨🇿
Prague
Czech Republic
Fairytale architecture and a legendary beer culture.
Estimated monthly student budget
🇪🇸 Madrid
€1,050–1,400 / month
Estimated monthly student budget
🇨🇿 Prague
€900–1,150 / month
Best for
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Students looking for a large international city
- Those who want to travel frequently around Europe
- People interested in academic and professional opportunities
Best for
🇨🇿 Prague
- Students who want to travel constantly around Europe
- Those looking for a very active social life
- People interested in an intense international experience
Category profile
How each city tends to feel across the things students care about — different, not better or worse.
Expensive
Cost of Living
Affordable
Very High
Nightlife
Very High
Very Good
Weather
Fair
Excellent
Travel Opportunities
Excellent
Very Active
Student Life
Iconic
Tight
Housing
Comfortable
Top-Tier
University Reputation
Strong
Student insights
🇪🇸 Madrid
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
Student insights
🇨🇿 Prague
- Exceptional location for travelling
- One of the best nightlife scenes in Europe
- Large Erasmus community
Student voice — 🇪🇸 Madrid
“Madrid is a city that never sleeps.”
Student voice — 🇨🇿 Prague
“I cannot recommend Prague enough.”
🇪🇸 Madrid
Pros
- Exceptional nightlife
- Outstanding national and international connections
- Highly prestigious universities
- Wide cultural and leisure offer
- Great networking and career opportunities
Cons
- Very expensive rent
- High cost of living by Spanish standards
- Large, sometimes overwhelming city
- Longer daily commutes than in mid-sized cities
- Less sense of student community than in more compact destinations
🇨🇿 Prague
Pros
- Exceptional location for travelling
- One of the best nightlife scenes in Europe
- Large Erasmus community
- Reasonable cost of living for a European capital
- Historic and culturally fascinating city
Cons
- Cold, dark winters
- Mass tourism in some areas
- Rising rental prices
- Bigger language barrier than in Spain or Portugal
- Fewer hours of sun for much of the year
Have you studied in one of these cities?
Share your experience and help future students make better Erasmus decisions.